mdwyerfoo

1) You will underestimate the size and weight of this product.
2) At least one wheel will be broken off when it arrives.
3) You will quickly find that the metric-sized wheel plates can't be found anywhere.
4) It isn't the most efficient device in the world, since it takes your cooled air and pumps it outside. Still, that means it only uses one air hose, so... win?
5) If you buy it thinking, "I can put this in the garage and use the dehumidifier feature to control humidity!" you might find yourself disappointed that the dehumidifier only works when the temperature above 70 degrees, which limits it a bit.
6) Go back and read number one again.

sdc100

Excellent unit. It has pretty much every feature you'd want in a portable air conditioner, plus much much more. In fact, unlike most window units, this is several machines in one. If I didn't already have a portable unit, I'd grad this one because mine is much inferior when compaed to this.

- This has oscillating louversto circulate the air
- It can function as a cooling air conditioner, a dehumidifier (which Woot recently had for about $170), an air purifier or a fan. On some days, merely dehumidifying is enough for comfort. That saves energy.
- I really like the fact that it's tankless. On very humid days, my unit would stop every two hours or so because the tank was full. It was a major nuisance, not to mention potentially dangerous since the surrounding floor may get wet.
- This has all the programmability you're likely to need. The only thing I'd wish for is having the thermostat in the remote. Like most cooling and heating devices, the thermostat is built into the device itself. That's very inaccurate since people usually sit far away from the unit. More expensive models have the thermostat built into the remote so that you can place it where you are for more accurate control.

danjstein

Like the other reviewers, I bought one last summer. Yes, it's big but can be tucked away near a window. The window/exhaust setup doesn't take an engineering degree, just a little patience. It cools our large bedroom very well.

The unit did arrive with a defect. Sharp was very helpful in solving the problem, sending the new parts to me and having a tech come to the house...all for free. The call center, located in Jamaica, also gave me instructions of how to override the program settings to make sure the ac blew cold air until the unit was fully repaired.

sdc100

mdwyerfoo wrote:5) If you buy it thinking, "I can put this in the garage and use the dehumidifier feature to control humidity!" you might find yourself disappointed that the dehumidifier only works when the temperature above 70 degrees, which limits it a bit.

That's not really much of a negative since this isn't meant to be an industrial unit. It's meant to comfort humans, not structures or other inanimate objects, i.e. art, fabrics, ancient books, paper, etc. Generally speaking, most humans live in rooms that are above 70F.

sdc100

FYI, people often complain that Woot's $5 s/h makes them less non-competitive with other discount sites. Well, $5 shipping for this 88 lbs device (probably 110lbs with attachments and box) is a bargain. Too bad some Wooters also have to pay tax...

sdc100

danjstein wrote:Like the other reviewers, I bought one last summer. Yes, it's big but can be tucked away near a window. The window/exhaust setup doesn't take an engineering degree, just a little patience. It cools our large bedroom very well.

If you want a quick temporary setup, don't bother with the window kit. Just pop the exhaust tube outside the window and surround it with rags, blankets, sheets, tarp or large garbage bags. Then shut your window on it, just enough to clamp on it without any additional pressure. Fill any holes with additonal rags, blankets, tarps, bags, so that no air can go in or out of the window. You're done.

kuraiholy

dickrourke wrote:It may have earned 3 stars of 5 at Amazon, but 9 respondents of 19 thought it pretty poor or worse, mostly about water handling.

I have yet to see a portable unit that gets 5 stars, but it's worth looking at details of this 3 star rating, I think. I'm in the market for two this summer; these ain't them.

I don't understand the reviews. I thought this didn't have to be drained so long as the exhaust tube is put out the window, right? Or could it be all those people had the defect that this that we're buying is refurbished from?

bmagnant

Once you get the kinks worked out it works ok... but mine arrive with a broken wheel caster, broken window parts, and the entire unit was stained as if it had been sitting in 6 inches of water for an extended time. The entire bottom of the unit was stained and rusty. It did arrive filled with water however, I guess that would be a bonus if you lived in the desert.

I buy refurb electronics all the time, but this wasn't refurbished. It appears it was returned and sent straight out again in a new box. No attempt had been made to refurbish the unit...

tradiuz

I have one of these (that I got from woot! no less). Expect it to work for about 6 months. Expect it to get really freaking loud after 2. Also, if it breaks and you have to ship it back to woot! for your warranty, expect to pay close to half the purchase price in shipping.

bluemaple

Hurricane4911 wrote:I bought one of these at a woot-off a while back. It's a darn good unit and deal.

I keep it for backup here in Florida in case my central A/C craps out or paired with a generator to use during loss of power.

It cooled my 2 car garage while working on refinishing a table. There was a small crack in one of the panel pieces to fit the exhaust in a window frame. Otherwise mine was perfect.

Good thoughts @Hurricane.

We have central air (Michigan) but sometimes the upstairs doesn't get cool enough so we have a small but ugly window unit to run to take the edge off. This type of unit would block less of the window and be easier to out in/take out of the window.

Also, since our generator won't power the central air, we too have used the portable A/C unit to take the edge off during power outages.

blackberryjam

bought the same unit last year- everything has worked great- only had one issue (and it was mostly user related) my son bent the exhaust hose and it put a tear in it, so all of the hot air bas blowing right back in the room... an easy fix. Would definitely get another.

nokkieny

I need to cool my office in a warehouse, the windows don't open so I would have to drill a hole in the building which I would rather not do, any idea if I can put the exhaust into the warehouse instead of outside?

Tatts

nokkieny wrote:I need to cool my office in a warehouse, the windows don't open so I would have to drill a hole in the building which I would rather not do, any idea if I can put the exhaust into the warehouse instead of outside?

Sure, and the workers will just love you for doing that!

We had a similar setup to cool a small, overloaded server room that overheated. We dumped the warm air into a larger conditioned space (ours was a 2-hose unit, not 1). The air supply into the server room just could not handle the heat, so this took the load off and transferred it to a larger, seldom-used space.

dmfrance

Don't ever buy a one hose unit; only a two hose unit is reasonable. The one hose unit takes cool air from your room, uses it to cool the internal condenser, and blows it outside. Then hot outside air flows into your home through every crevice to replace it. With a two hose unit, outside air is taken in through one hose to cool the condenser and then exhaused outside through the other. No hot outside air is sucked into your home.

jaukeman

bmagnant wrote:Once you get the kinks worked out it works ok... but mine arrive with a broken wheel caster, broken window parts, and the entire unit was stained as if it had been sitting in 6 inches of water for an extended time. The entire bottom of the unit was stained and rusty. It did arrive filled with water however, I guess that would be a bonus if you lived in the desert.

I buy refurb electronics all the time, but this wasn't refurbished. It appears it was returned and sent straight out again in a new box. No attempt had been made to refurbish the unit...

Mine had a broken wheel caster as well, the way it was packaged there is no way it broke during shipping. That said, I just put the wheel in place and I never move it anyway. I can't speak to your other problems, I love the unit, it's been great.

tjdercks

I live in an apartment that does not allow Window AC's (I live in Sue York City, and they are worried they will fall on someone). I have 4 In-Wall AC's, with the maximum BTU's allowed. They work great, but on very hot sunny days/weeks, they run 24/7. I am thinking a portable unit would help on those days.

My concern with a one hose model ... it is not a closed system. All the air going out the hose, is being sucked into the house somewhere else.

Does air blow out the hose (like an exhaust fan), or is it just a vent? If only a small amount of air is being exchanged ... no big deal.

nokkieny

We had a similar setup to cool a small, overloaded server room that overheated. We dumped the warm air into a larger conditioned space (ours was a 2-hose unit, not 1). The air supply into the server room just could not handle the heat, so this took the load off and transferred it to a larger, seldom-used space.

chadbud

I bought one of these last year and it is a piece of crap. two wheels were broken off and the water tray fills up so fast it struggles to run for 30 minutes before it shuts down due to a full tray.
If you live in an extremely dry climate it might be ok, but anywhere with humid summers this ac is worthless.

robflyinfish

thom1048

Buyer beware! Mine not only came with the standard broken caster but also decided to stop draining its water tank after about two months. While the ad claims to be a tankless design, the way it actually works is that the tank is supposed to be emptied through the vent hose as it runs. Something broke in mine and I had to rig a bucket to allow the water to drain into. Otherwise, it will shut down after about 2 hours. I ended up being stuck with this unit since woot's policy to to take it back rather than try to get it fixed. Since I no longer had the shipping box, there was no feasible way to do so. IIRC, there were many folks with the same problem, some failed early enough that they could get it remedied and some were stuck.

pg318

Don't forget to use a big spiderweb of duct tape to hold all that packing in place...a friend's apartment AC went out in 100 degree weather, and this was exactly the fix the landlord did. Worked well though...

sdc100 wrote:If you want a quick temporary setup, don't bother with the window kit. Just pop the exhaust tube outside the window and surround it with rags, blankets, sheets, tarp or large garbage bags. Then shut your window on it, just enough to clamp on it without any additional pressure. Fill any holes with additonal rags, blankets, tarps, bags, so that no air can go in or out of the window. You're done.

ras07

Can anyone validate the dimensions on this unit? The specs (both here and on the mfg site)say 32.6 (w) x 22.8 (h), but the pictures (both here and on the mfg site) sure don't look like it's wider than it is tall. Are the height and width reversed?

[MOD: Yep, we had them reversed. It's fixed now. Thanks for letting us know!

Tsonomi

baggerflip wrote:I wonder if this would be a good alternative to use in my semi cab. Then I wouldn't need to idle all summer.

====

Ok, you want to turn your truck engine off and run off an INVERTER?
Unless your truck sports a bank of battery for the inverter, I'd give it a big no. The AC runs at 10 amps. to make that, the inverter is eating 100 amps of battery power. The rule is one 12v 100AH battery will supply 5A for 20 hours. But I would not put it on the starting battery, bad idea.

This was tried by an air con company for trucks. Used an inverter for the exact reason you are thinking about. They took if off the market after a few years. I don't know the actual reason but I would suspect it was because of battery life.

If you do hazzard this attempt, think STRONGLY of using solar panels also on the roof of your truck cab.

By the way, Where would you put it? Kick the rider seat out? I could take that space easily.

Woot.com is operated by Woot Services LLC.
Products on Woot.com are sold by Woot, Inc., other than items on Wine.Woot which are sold by the seller specified on the product detail page.
Product narratives are for entertainment purposes and frequently employ
literary point of view;
the narratives do not express Woot's editorial opinion.
Aside from literary abuse, your use of this site also subjects you to Woot's
terms of use
and
privacy policy.
Woot may designate a user comment as a Quality Post, but that doesn't mean we agree with or guarantee anything said or linked to in that post.